This Spindly Font Was Inspired By Crisscrossing Tram Wires

Lisbon is beautiful: buildings fronted in colourful tiles, cobbled roads and incredible street art. The Portuguese capital also has hills — lots and lots of steep hills — and a robust tram system that weaves around the highs and lows, complete with a whole tapestry of wires that crisscross above the tracks.

Those wires were the inspiration for LX Type, the city's spindly new "official font".

Now: It's not entirely clear what exactly an "official font" is meant to do or be, other than a new kind of branding effort — something to help create a sense of identity that both rings true for locals and appeals to visitors.

That being said, this one is pretty fun to navigate! The site has the entire alphabet laid out in photographs with their corresponding graphic form. At first glance, they are pretty tough to parse, but you can soon get in the groove and the shapes and patterns become more clear. You can also try it out yourself, spelling out different words, with a little added bonus; each letter has the specific tram number and stop, along with a pic of the surrounds and a little tidbit of history to go along with it.

It's engaging and yeah, just the teensiest bit educational. Kooky fonts are a dime-a-dozen these days — any Lisboetas want to weigh in here on how well you feel it represents your home turf? [LX Type]

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